AP approval, still ok to drop back to Honors?

[Lucy the Valiant]

[Please forgive me if this is posted elsewhere; I tried searching but came up empty.]

Backstory: I have some students who *may be ready for AP level work, but they are busy, and if AP (next year) turns out to be sucking the joy from their lives, we'd like to pull back to regular "Honors" level work and do AP levels later. 

Proposal: Can I apply & get an AP syllabus approved (or use an already-approved one), start the year out, and then if we need to slow down / back off, just do that? And list it on transcript as honors? I want to be both honest & flexible. I'm reading on the College Board site, and this seems within their guidelines for using the AP designation on a transcript. This would be for the 2020-2021 school year. (Do people already do this? Is there something obvious I'm missing about this plan?) 

THANK YOU, Hive, for your wisdom!

[jplain]

I don’t think it’d be a problem.  The AP Course Audit is to approve the instructor and syllabus, not the students.  Based on my reading of College Board documentation, after AP Course Audit you are allowed but not obligated to use the AP designation on transcripts.  Indeed, there are high schools that withhold the AP designation on a student’s transcript if the student chooses not to take the AP exam.

[RootAnn]

I'm not clear if you are aware that AP test signups have pretty much moved to the fall. So, if you planned on making the decision on taking the test in the Spring, know you will pay $92 to sign up in the fall and if you decide they won't take it, you should get about half back ($40 exam cancellation fee).

I don't see any issue with the transcript saying Honors vs. AP. FWIW, my eldest took AP Calc - the class - but never planned to take the test (really difficult to access in our area). I still put it as AP on her transcript.

Edited February 6, 2020 by RootAnn
Updated with $ info

[Lucy the Valiant]

Thank you, RootAnn - I did think about that, and am willing to pay the test fee regardless. 

An additional question is that I have to provide documentation to the College Board that verifies my status as a homeschool provider in my state. I would prefer to not submit my letter of intent because it contains sensitive information about my children; also, technically, I should be able to self-identify and teach other people's kids, I think, so - maybe a hand-written letter will work for College Board? 

 

[jplain]

My state does not require a Notice of Intent letter and does not provide any sort of homeschool status confirmation, so I printed out the hypothetical NOI letter I could have submitted and sent that to College Board.  I did not include any info other than name of student, grade level, and a statement that we would be homeschooling in accordance with the applicable state statutes.

I don’t believe homeschool educators are allowed to run their approved courses for other people’s children.  In that situation, I’d help all of the other parents to go through course audit themselves, using whatever syllabus I chose to use. I’d teach the course, but the other parents would use their own approval letters as authorization to designate the course AP on their children’s transcripts. 

Edited February 6, 2020 by jplain
Clarity!

[madteaparty]

3 hours ago, Lucy the Valiant said:

Thank you, RootAnn - I did think about that, and am willing to pay the test fee regardless. 

An additional question is that I have to provide documentation to the College Board that verifies my status as a homeschool provider in my state. I would prefer to not submit my letter of intent because it contains sensitive information about my children; also, technically, I should be able to self-identify and teach other people's kids, I think, so - maybe a hand-written letter will work for College Board? 

 

I used the letter from my district approving my IEP. 

[Lucy the Valiant]

Helpful Clarification: I just got off the phone with College Board, and when they say "letter of intent", they mean "letter of intent to teach an AP course" NOT "letter of intent to homeschool". So I wrote a generic letter that says "I plan to teach an AP level course", and they accepted it fine, no student information on it at all. [Edit: I feel a little dumb now, realizing that, but our state does use the term with a very specific legal meaning, so that's why I was thinking that. I'm an over-thinker, too, haha. All good now w/College Board.]

I often do teach local classes to home schoolers, so I went with that angle vs. my own children. 

THANK YOU, all! 

Edited February 6, 2020 by Lucy the Valiant